


FebuWhump2021 Day 16: Broken Bones

by startrekkingaroundasgard



Series: FebuWhump2021 [16]
Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Betrayal, Broken Bones, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Major Character Injury, Non-Consensual Body Modification, Rescue, Sisters, Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-16 14:34:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 857
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29083971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/startrekkingaroundasgard/pseuds/startrekkingaroundasgard
Summary: Gamora is captured by Thanos and punished for disobeying him and trying to leave. Nebula stands by and watches until one day it becomes too much and she rescues her sister.
Relationships: Gamora & Nebula (Marvel)
Series: FebuWhump2021 [16]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2156145
Kudos: 2





	FebuWhump2021 Day 16: Broken Bones

Gamora’s screams echoed through the pipes of the ship, guttural cries for assistance which would never come. It was foolish of her to think that she could ever escape their father, especially after betraying him and joining that band of ridiculous idiots. Nebula would never understand how the Terran had convinced her a new life away from Thanos was possible. Now, for her attempt to escape, Gamora would suffer.

It should have brought her joy. After all, wasn’t this everything Nebula had wanted since they were children? Years of losing out to Gamora, being torn piece by piece and remade into this, had to be repaid somehow. All of that anger and resentment between them should have made this a sweet, sweet victory. However, with each day that passed, Nebula only found it harder to bear.

She closed her eyes but the optical implant was still connected to Sanctuary II’s systems and the image of her sister, bound and bleeding, burned itself into Nebula’s mind. Gamora’s broken wrists were bound in Kree cuffs, yanked behind her back and over her head, a position designed to bring her the most possible pain. Blood trickled down her arms, the jagged insides of the cuffs tearing at her skin with each tiny movement.

Every day, one of her father’s aids – one of his torturers – visited Gamora. They offered her forgiveness and clemency in return for renouncing her crimes. She was stubborn, though. Gamora never, not for a single moment, showed any signs of giving in. So they whipped her until she passed out. Cut her, removed and replaced her organs as they had Nebula’s. Systematically broke every bone in her body.

They left her hanging there in the main chamber for all to see, a vicious reminder of what would happen if anyone dared to cross Thanos. If he could do this to his favourite daughter… God only knew what terrible fate would meet those he didn’t hold dear.

Every day, Nebula walked passed her sister and ignored her whispered pleas, often frenzied or unintelligible from the blood loss. She kept her gaze on the ground as gravity pulled on her heavy body, caused her joints to swell even more. She remained Thanos’s dutiful daughter, convinced more every day that this punishment was as much for her as it was her sister.

Today was worse than ever. In the whole time Gamora had been on the ship, bound and beaten to within an inch of her life, she had never once lost her strength. She spat in the faces of her torturers, jeered at their weakness. It was, in Nebula’s opinion, both remarkable and remarkably stupid. With each hoarse insult, their father’s aids became resolved to hurt her more. It became personal.

But still, the whole time, Gamora remained staunch. Until now. The ship was mostly empty as their father took the army to invade another planet in search for the Stones. Only a skeleton crew remained, most of whom were locked away in the engine rooms. Alone, away from the watchful, judging gazes, Gamora had started to weep.

Her cries cut through Nebula’s skull in a way that her screams had never been able to. She tried to ignore her sister’s pleas for death, to continue on with her tasks and be, for once, the good daughter that Thanos expected.

It was impossible to ignore the tightness in her chest, the bile that filled her throat. Malfunctions in her parts, she tried to convince herself. Yes. That was all. So Nebula ran a diagnostic and found everything working perfectly, her body literally a well oiled machine. That pain in her chest didn’t fade though and the more Gamora sobbed, the more she lost hope, the harder it became to stand by and do nothing.

She knew she’d regret it, of course she did, but Nebula could not stand by any longer. All this time she’d longed to see Gamora suffer but it was nowhere near as fun as she’d hoped.

Checking the monitors, Nebula let herself into the ship’s central chambers and stood before her sister, barely able to breathe. Not wasting a moment, she bypassed Sanctuary’s security grid and released the wire holding Gamora in mid air.

“Nebula…”

“Don’t speak,” she ordered, crouching down at her sister’s side. Her limbs were bent out in horrendous angles, flesh bruised and torn, stretched over shattered bones, and Nebula waited a long moment before realising that Gamora, unlike herself, could not simply realign her skeleton. The pros of having an entirely metallic frame, she supposed.

“This will hurt,” she warned, then scooped her sister into her arms. Gamora screamed into her torso, tears streaming down her taut face. Nebula switched off her auditory processors and savoured the silence that followed. She took the fastest route down to the shuttle bay and launched the smallest ship there.

She knew Thanos would come after them and that she would most likely face death for her disobedience but, as she glanced over at her sister, resting quietly for the first time in weeks, Nebula knew there was no one she would rather die for.


End file.
